Gingivitis, peridontal disease and diseases of the associated structures, i.e., interdental ligament and bone, alveolar bone and of tooth structure itself all have a common etiology; plaque. Plague in the oral cavity is ubiguitous and its control is critical not only to control inflammation, but also maintenance of healthy gums and fresh breath. Accordingly, this invention is directed to the control of plaque when used in a conscientiously applied program of oral hygiene care. It comprises a specific chlorophyll, aloe vera gel dentifrice in the form of a toothpaste.
It is known that chlorophyll possesses positive anti-bacterial actions and will stimulate growth of new tissue while reducing the hazards of bacterial contamination. The beneficial action of water soluble chlorophyll in oral sepsis has been reported by S. L. Goldberg, American Journal of Surgery, 62:117, (1943), wherein its curative action of pyorrhea, Vincent's angina, and gingivitis are discussed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,853 of Henry H. Cobble teaches the use of aloe vera gel by physicians and dentists in relieving pain and in promoting healing of topical and other lesions. Other toothpastes use aloe vera as an inhibiter and killer of bacteria which are known to cause plaque. This has also been noted to have a natural antibiotic action.
Also U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,022 of John A. Basciglio has introduced a composition and method for use in the treatment of pain and inflammation associated with lesions of skin and mucous membranes such as herpes simplex, herpes labialis, herpes progenitalis, chicken pox lesions, sensitivity of gingival tissue due to procedures for etching teeth with hydrochloride, swollen gums, cheilosis, oral traumatic injuries, aphthous ulcer by applying to the lesion an effective amount of topical composition comprising diphenhydramine HCL, lidocaine HCL, aloe vera gel, propilis in sufficient base to raise the pH to 8.9. Also pertinent is Japanese Patent No. 0116814 in which compositions are obtained by mixing 0.01 to 2 weight per cent of one menthol and or carevone with 0.01 to 1 weight per cent of aloe plant extract.
The chemistry of aloe vera gel has thus been investigated on and off for the past several decades, nevertheless, few studies have been well controlled and confirmed. Substances reported to occur in aloe vera gel include polysaccharides containing glucose, mannose, galactose, xylose, arabinose, tannins, steroids, organic acids, antibiotic principle(s), glucuronic acid, enzymes: oxidase, catalase, and amylase, trace sugars, calcium oxalate, a protein containing eighteen amino acids, "wound healing hormones", biogenic stimulators, saponins, vitamins, chloride, sulfate iron, calcium, copper, sodium, potassium, magnanese, zinc, etc.
It is commonly believed that the moisturizing emollient and healing properties of aloe vera gel are due to the polysaccharide present. The major polysaccharide present has been determined to be glucomannan. This glucomannan is a polysaccharide similar to guar and locust bean gums. Other polysaccharides containing galactose and uronic acids as well as pentoses are also present. It is believed probable that the gel's beneficial properties are not due to the polysaccharides alone, but rather from a synergistic effect of these compounds with other substances present in the gel. Still other research claims that a few of the basic components in aloe vera gel can also be found in DMSO, Dimethylsulfonic oxide, a wood pulp derivative which is currently used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and related complaints. Two constituents of both the gel and DSMO are: lignin, a wood-like pulp which has the remarkable ability to penetrate the human skin; and monosulfonic acid, an anthracene derivative found in the anthraquinone family of aloe vera and chemical chain derivative of DSMO. An enzyme derivative from amylase and a closely related variation of alpha amylase, is also thought to exist in both the gel and DSMO. Alpha amylase is well known for its penetrating, pain-killing effectiveness in dealing with arthritis, bursitis and strain in muscle tissue. Some vitamins from the B-complex group i.e., B-1, niacinamide, B-2, B-6, ascorbic acid, vitamin C, and choline, the principal constituent of lecithin, have also been observed in aloe vera gel.
Photochemical reaction of chlorophylls per se include: a) reduction, b) oxidation, c) photosensitization, d) reversible photo-bleaching, e) sensitized oxidation reduction reactions not involving oxygen; insensitized oxidations involving oxygen. In 1920 the study of chlorophyll sensitized oxidation of various organic compounds by oxygen was begun by Noack, Meyer, Gaffron, and others. Sensitized reactions involving oxidants other than oxygen were first systemically studied by Bohi, who observed the bleaching of a number of azoyls and other oxygents in the presence of chlorophyll, phenylhydrazine and light. It has been noted that there is an energy transfer in vitro, chlorophyll involving a singlet excited chlorophyll molecule which may lose energy by radiationless transfer to a nearby molecule. Chlorophyll may also receive energy by transfer from some other exited molecule. An energy transfer from chlorophyll to chlorophyll is thus possible in concentrated solution. It has also been observed that a triplet state energy also occurs not only by the foster process, but also by an electron.
There has also been noted a cage effect, where the radicals formed and the reaction such as those previously mentioned are prevented from separating very far by the resistance in the medium. It was therefore concluded that there is a large probability that they will react to regenerate starting materials, this is the so-called "caged effect".
The existence of a long lived state of chlorophyll, intermediate energy between ground and first excited singlet states was originally postulated to explain the kinetics of photo-chemical reactions. In addition, there are rate limitations wherein less chlorophyll forms into a complex with a reagent in the dark. The rate constance for the bimolecular reactions are limited by the number of collisions per second between the reactive species.
Phosphorescence has also been studied, although its magnetic susceptibility has not been measured. The enhancement of phosphorescence by paramagnetic metal and copper pheophytins supports this belief. Energy transferred from a chlorophyll to an acceptor reaction has been demonstrated with reasonably certainty utilizing carotenoids. Unlike the one electron oxidation of chlorophyll, which usually reverses immediately upon cessation of illumination, reduction of chlorophyll leads to a stable non-radical product. Regarding energy requirements for the condition of the occurrence of primary reactions of chlorophyll: It was determined that for energy transfer reaction, the acceptor must have an excited electronic state of the proper multiplicity with energy less that that of the excited state of chlorophyll. More concerned, however, is the evidence of sensitized oxidations involving oxygen. The chlorophyll share with many other dyes the ability to sensitize the oxidation of organic substances by molecular oxygen. The only apparent requirement of a sensitizer is an existence of an excited state of sufficiently long lifetime to react with oxygen. Among the compound whose oxidation by chlorophyll, its derivatives, and other porpyhrins have been studied are benzidine, p-toluenediamine, aliphatic amines, phenylhydrazine, diphenylamine, and phenylendiamine, benzyl alcohol, pyruvic acid, ascorbic acid, cysteine, polyphenols, and cytachrome, ergosterol, serum protein, cseine, tyrosine, phenol, and uric acid which are oxidized to endoperoxides. This oxidation was found to have occurred in low 0.sub.2 pressure, even when the dye in substrate was absorbed into different silica gel particles. Another mechanism thus favored a primary photochemical reaction between the sensitizer chlorophyll and the reductant allythilurea. It is also argued that an electron transfer from a photoexcited dye to 0.sub.2 does the initial step in sensitizing oxidants as well as inflorescence quenching.
The complex chemical reactions of chlorophyll when mixed with aloe vera were carefully evaluated herein. In this connection, U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,197 of Ray H. Maret disclosed the process for extracting and stabilizing juice from leaves of the Aloe vera plant. The gel was removed by trimming the rind and aloe layer from the leaf. The remaining gel digested under ultraviolet radiation at ambient temperature to produce biologically sterile and chemically stable extract of composition having characteristics similar to fresh aloe vera.
Moreover, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,853,213 and 4,952,392, Thame teaches an oral hygiene composition for reducing plaque and for the prevention and treatment of periodontal diseases wherein the composition comprises at least 0.03 per cent by weight of an extract of the perennial herb periwinkle. Aloe vera extract and chlorophyllin copper complex are referred to as being combinable with the periwinkle in a toothpaste composition.